Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) Lowered to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on PTEN. Susquehanna reaffirmed a positive rating and set a $16.00 target price on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Raymond James lowered their price objective on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a strong-buy rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Benchmark lowered Patterson-UTI Energy from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Patterson-UTI Energy in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. They issued a neutral rating and a $12.00 target price for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $16.33.

Patterson-UTI Energy Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of Patterson-UTI Energy stock opened at $12.52 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $11.50 and a 200 day moving average of $11.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.40, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 2.21. Patterson-UTI Energy has a fifty-two week low of $9.70 and a fifty-two week high of $16.17.

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The oil and gas company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. Patterson-UTI Energy had a return on equity of 10.00% and a net margin of 5.94%. As a group, research analysts predict that Patterson-UTI Energy will post 0.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Patterson-UTI Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Patterson-UTI Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.68%.

Insider Transactions at Patterson-UTI Energy

In other news, Director Robert Wayne Drummond, Jr. sold 187,916 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.73, for a total transaction of $2,204,254.68. Following the sale, the director now owns 2,473,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,011,093.47. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of PTEN. Citigroup Inc. grew its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 2.2% during the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 212,072 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,283,000 after acquiring an additional 4,464 shares during the last quarter. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Patterson-UTI Energy in the first quarter valued at $187,000. Natixis Advisors L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in the first quarter valued at about $460,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 15.7% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 223,039 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,453,000 after buying an additional 30,250 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 1.5% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 601,506 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $9,311,000 after buying an additional 9,136 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.91% of the company’s stock.

About Patterson-UTI Energy

Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of contract drilling services to oil and natural gas operators in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Drilling Services, Completion Services, and Drilling Products. The Contract Drilling Services segment provides contract and directional drilling services in onshore oil and natural gas basins, as well as engages in the service and re-certification of equipment for drilling contractors, and provision of electrical controls and automation to the energy, marine and mining industries.